GPS Won't Work, Maps Won't Update

[larrytxeast]

I have an LG Optimus V, Android 2.2, non-rooted, and I'm about to smash the thing into a thousand pieces. I haven't done so, YET, but I have absolutely done that sort of thing to phones before that irritated me, and before I do that silly sort of thing again I'm asking for help here hoping to fix this problem in the normal sort of way.

For some reason, as of about 2 weeks ago (although it may have started sooner & I just didn't notice), the GPS absolutely WILL NOT get a decent lock. It will only get me within 2100 meters or so. I have absolutely tried everything, even wiping the phone out & starting over from scratch, re-updating the maps. Nothing. It absolutely WILL NOT get a decent lock.

At first it would get a lock, but it would take longer than normal, especially if you had to reset the phone or swap the battery (I carry a spare). On one occasion it was locking on fine & then when I had to swap the battery, I had to stand still for 15-20 minutes (seriously) before it would FINALLY get a lock.

Heck, it's worse than that now, you can sit stationery the ENTIRE DAY and it STILL won't get a lock.

I've had this thing since July, and up until then, it used to get a really good lock, and fast. I could leave the GPS setting on OFF and simply turn it on only when I needed it, and regardless, Google Maps would get a within 3-5 meter lock within 5 seconds, sometimes less. It didn't matter if I was in the boonies where you only got 1 bar of service, or in the city with all the bars, & even though I would be switching on the GPS connection only right then just before opening up Google Maps, regardless--it ALWAYS got a 3-5 meter lock within 5 seconds or less.

The way it is now, I could be downtown in a city of 100,000, totally stationary for 15 minutes, sitting outside with a wide-open view of the sky--and it STILL absolutely WILL NOT get a lock.

I don't think it has anything to do with a satellite problem in the area or that sort of thing, because my wife's LG Rumor Touch gets a lock just fine--it may take 2-3 minutes, but it will get a lock.

Not only that, I have now wiped my phone out for the second time in 2 days trying to clear out whatever "electronic gunk" on my phone is causing this. The first time, I was able to update Google Maps/GMail etc successfully, but it STILL wouldn't get a lock. I've wiped my phone a SECOND time, I'm trying to update Google Maps to the newest version, and it will not do ANYTHING. Google Market just sits there hour-glassing, last night it did so for 30 minutes (I set the screen to stay on for that long & not power off) and it never downloaded the update to any extent whatsoever the entire time. It's doing the same thing now, Google Maps REFUSES to update.

I'm at home using a Wi-Fi connection to the residential Internet, I know the wireless router works & the phone is not even 20 feet away from the router, and also the Google Market works fine when I search for programs like Opera Mini or Juice Defender & install them--but for updating Google Maps or GMail etc, it will not do ANYTHING. Spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning,....

Which leads to hearing this echo from the walls around the house: WILL YOU GOD DAMN MOVE!!!!

Someone help, because I am this close to turning this phone into my personal baseball, and smashing the living luck (with an F) out of it. This is absolutely BEYOND ridiculous, and please forgive me if my language rubs anyone the wrong one or I sound like a schizoid (I'm not, I promise, ha ha), just understand--this is beyond irritating, especially as it did this very thing last weekend when we were driving in unfamiliar territory & ended up lost for awhile because this thing wouldn't hit a lick, and STILL won't. This sort of thing just isn't supposed to happen, things are supposed to WORK when you tell them to. Period. No excuses. Ever.

LRH

 

[MasterTec]

1> Seek professional help for you anger management issues. Really.

2> Contact Virgin to get a replacement phone before you launch yours. Hopefully yours is still under warranty. Really.

3> Take a deep breath and start saving up for that heart attack surgery you're going to need in the very near future.

 

[larrytxeast]

MaserTec Ha ha, thanks for the humor relief, it helps.

No the phone isn't under warranty, and in fact I'm pondering replacing it with the new LG Optimus slider NOT because of all of this, but because I don't do well with on-screen keyboards vs physical ones. I'm not as awful with it as I was when I got it (I only got it because people swore the Samsung Intercept stunk), but I still get irritated at times typing on it. I flew on my Blackberry far better.

As it turns out, when Market is "hour-glassing" apparently it's updating EVERYTHING all at once, even the SCVNGR game or whatever. (There were about 7 checkmarks in the notification area all of them "so & so successfully updated.") It would be nice if it DISPLAYED that it was doing all of that while it was doing so, so you knew, I thought it was "stuck in the mud" as it were just trying to update Google Maps & nothing else.

I tested out Maps & it found me quickly & within 3-5 meters, just like before. Yes! That is great, so long as it does that when I'm out & about in general like I was last weekend. It couldn't get within 2-3 miles of where I was then. As for why I don't get a stand-alone GPS: no, it's not because my phone is "always with me," it's because I don't like how stand-alones make you type the address in like 8 different places. They are SO picky about how you have to type them in EXACTLY so or they won't cooperate. I like how smartphone GPS devices let you enter the whole address as 1 single line and it manages to figure it out. To me that is MUCH MUCH easier (especially being able to copy-paste the address from a text etc).

I guess it was time I started over anyway, I was down to about 25 megabytes of phone space (internal) & nothing seemed to be able to get it lower than that, not even moving applications to the SD card. I have PLENTY of room now.

LRH

 

[MasterTec]

I'm glad I could make you laugh but believe me I wasn't being humorous.

Seriously.. get some help.

 

[larrytxeast]

Okay then MasterTec--if getting a little mad & venting about how irritating this problem was means I "need help," I suggest EVERYONE needs help. Good grief, all I did was vent, anymore in society people can't even just VENT and nothing more without people thinking that person needs help or even a punitive response of some sort. It's like the NFL wanting to squelch all celebration of a touchdown, it's called the "No Fun League" for a reason, God forbid people have emotion.

Even with the venting, I still very specifically explained my problem. I gave lots of details to help explain not only what was wrong but also the circumstances, what OS and that it wasn't rooted, and also what steps I had taken to try & fix it. How many times in the past--not lately, thank goodness--have we seen people post "my phone wont work whats wrong what do I do," and that's it--no explanation of the problem, when & how it occurs, what kind of phone it is, what steps they've done or researched to try & alleviate the problem. Nothing.

I still was calm enough to not make that mistake, and provide PLENTY of context. Yes, a little venting went on too, a little "I want to break this SOB so bad," frankly--so what? Maybe I hail from Planet Kryptonite or something, but frustration like that is pretty normal in my view. Sure, some people just go "oops, it doesn't work, that's ashame" and that's as far as it goes, but not everyone is like that. A good friend of mine, very level headed not prone to any explosions, nonetheless said one day "Angry Birds, they ought to call it Angry Humans, I want to throw the phone."

Some people are just like that. Not everyone that screams "argh! you @#(#&*(@!!!!!" walks into a post office & shoots up the place. So long as one is just venting & no one gets hurt, I say--big woop-dee-doo. I was asking for help with the PHONE, not help on how to smile at a phone that won't work when you'd rather toss it out the window onto a concrete highway.

LRH

 

[gcballard]

I feel your pain. So much so that I registered just to post a reply. Mine used to work perfectly. Now, after using GPS Test, the best I can do is around 200 feet. And that's after sitting for awhile. I know it still sees gps satellites because of the aforementioned program, but two other friends and myself sat and their phones were super accurate and mine was horrible.

This was one of the reasons that i put a new ROM on my phone (a port of CM 7.1 I think). But it didn't help. At this point I'm guessing that there's something actually wrong with the GPS. but I have no idea.

As far as your anger issues, well, I felt similar when I got lost not too long ago.

 

[lance1955]

I tried Juice Defender once and had horrible results with this program.
I have mine Rooted, but keep the stock Rom. Just wanted to get the bloatware off the phone, and be able to tether. Anyway, what I found is that every time google shomoogle decides to forces a map update guess what? GPS wont lock on and will not find jack spit. My advise to you is uninstall the updates for google maps. Try it like then. Make sure you uncheck automatically update. .

I have found at least in my case that returning to the original default version of google maps seems to fix the issue. Sometimes thought the chit just wont work. But I dont use it enough to really say. I know for a fact when it updates on it own by majic, google forces the update, then no gps. Remove updates and GPS works. Got me

 

[MasterTec]

I'm about to smash the thing into a thousand pieces. I haven't done so, YET, but I have absolutely done that sort of thing to phones before that irritated me

...

Which leads to hearing this echo from the walls around the house: WILL YOU GOD DAMN MOVE!!!!

...

I am this close to turning this phone into my personal baseball, and smashing the living luck (with an F) out of it. This is absolutely BEYOND ridiculous, and please forgive me if my language rubs anyone the wrong one or I sound like a schizoid (I'm not, I promise, ha ha)

...

This sort of thing just isn't supposed to happen, things are supposed to WORK when you tell them to. Period. No excuses. Ever.

Read those snippets right there. Seriously? You've smashed your phone into a thousand bits before because it didn't work like you wanted? You repeated multiple times that you're about to smash it apart because you're so pissed. Really? A CELL PHONE pisses you off that much? Come on now.

And then you've seen this sort of thing before in the past (obviously otherwise you would have never smashed a phone to bits before) but yet you're pissing and moaning because your inexpensive OV phone isn't working like you think it should?

There's no arguing that you have issues with your phone but want to fix the problem? Then fine go ahead smash it up into a thousand bits and then buy a new one. You have a hardware problem. You're out of warranty. Might as well have fun with it, right?

Now coming on here all pissed off and talking like you're almost BRAGGING about being able to take your anger out of a half pound piece of electronics.. oh yeah that makes you look real manly! I'm so impressed.

That's classic anger management issues right there. Go seek help. If a little cell phone is causing you so much grief then how are you going to handle things when you wife forgets to put pickles on your sammich.. or your daughter stays out late at night.. or your hot water heater lows up.

Really I've been through MUCH MUCH worse things than my stupid little cell phone acting up and I never needed to resort to violence. I've never needed to smash anything into a thousand pieces.. and I've ESPECIALLY never needed to get online and brag about it.

Go seek help.

 

[anthonycr]

Heck, it's worse than that now, you can sit stationery the ENTIRE DAY and it STILL won't get a lock.

I wish I had an entire day to sit around and play with my phone